I'd like to dedicate this chapter to kurahieiritr JIO. Thank you for the reviews! Your comments made my day! It makes me so happy to make others happy :D
With Laxus and Jellal….
Laxus heard the sound of the two exclaiming over her magic level. 'I wish I was there.' He thought and unknowingly sent a wistful look in Lucy's direction. Jellal noticed this expression and chuckled quietly to himself. Of course Laxus liked her as well. The lightning mage never just helped people. Then again, neither did he.
Setting down the small amount of gear he had brought, he glanced behind at Laxus once more and for the first time noticed how mush gear he was carrying. Three people to be exact. Rushing over, Jellal took half of the load off Laxus, taking it over to where he'd dumped his own possessions.
Carefully placing Lucy's tent and Freed's bag down, he quickly looked over the area he had chosen. It was near the river, but cloaser to the waterfall than the training ground. There was a small clearing, with flowers ringing the edges.
Seeing that Laxus had begun to set up his own tent, he also started, pegging out his tent and gathering rocks to build a nice fire pit to sit in the middle of the ring of tents. By the time he'd found appropriate rocks, Laxus had set up the other two tents and gathered some logs to use as seat.
Arranging the stones, the two men pooled their cooking supplies. Surprisingly, the two of them both enjoyed to cook, and began to discuss recipes as they made dinner. Each was astonished that himself and the other man were getting along this well. They even went so far as to call each other friends.
Not aloud of course though. Oh no, they had far too much pride for that!
With Lucy and Freed…
Lucy explained in more detail the spells she had been given access too but also told Freed of her terrible mistake. A rumour had been going around the guild that afternoon about someone's betrayal but the last person Freed expected this to be was Lucy.
She began to sob quietly as she continued her tale. She relived the moment constantly. Freed, not sure how to comfort her, leaned towards her and she snuggled into his embrace feeling comforted by it.
Smiling up at him, she thought about the three new friends she was slowly making. Already, she felt closer to these three than she than she had ever felt to Natsu, Erza and Gray. Though they were her friends, they never helped train her.
Thinking about it now, though they took her on missions, they never really helped her, except in fights during missions. And even then, they just took over instead of letting her get stronger. But Freed, Laxus and Jellal, they were different. She instinctively knew that they wouldn't do that to her on a mission.
Standing up, she wiped her eyes and held out her hand, helping Freed up. "The others should've finished setting up by now." She said, grabbing his hand and walking towards where the boys had disappeared to.
Arriving in the smaller clearing, Lucy grinned at the amazing smell coming from the cooking pot. Letting go of Freed and leaving him by the camps edge, she walked over to Jellal. Seeing he hadn't noticed their arrival, she whispered under her breath, knowing Laxus would hear it but Jellal wouldn't. "Don't say anything."
Going up behind the blunette, she grabbed his shoulders and yelled, "Erza's coming for you!"
Jellal fell of the log, landing in an undignified heap. Picking himself up off the ground, he grunted at Lucy, pretending to be mad. Lucy's face fell, until Laxus began laughing at her, quickly joined by Freed and Jellal.
Now it was Lucy's turn to be mad. However, with these three laughing, she found it was impossible. Their laughter was infectious and soon she too was laughing with them. Suddenly, a slight burning smell come from one of the pots and Jellal and Laxus shot over to the pots once more, taking them off the heat and adding various ingredients.
Sitting down on one of the logs, Lucy beckoned Freed over. Once he too had settled himself into a comfortable position, she giggled quietly. "They're like mothers, intently looking over their food!" Freed glanced over to the two and laughed as well.
Laxus sniffed. "I heard that." He said. Lucy giggled once more. "Doesn't matter. It's still true."
Laxus rolled his eyes and turned back to the food, conferring with Jellal about how much chilli they should add. Lucy turned back to Freed and the two talked, discussing tactics, but also just random things like what was going on in the guild.
Just when they were getting hungry, Jellal called to them, telling them it was dinner time. Lucy and Freed ran over to collect their plates of food, expecting great things from the two wannabe chefs. Taking the first mouthful, Lucy spat it out immediately, coughing and spluttering.
"She's choking!" Freed yelled, looking around for some water. See a singular drink bottle, he grabbed it and handed it to Lucy. She drunk heaps of the water, stopping coughing. "Thanks Freed." She said, smiling at the green haired man.
As she turned away, she thought there might have been a slight blush on his cheeks. However, she decided it must have just been the fire light.
After a delicious dinner was finished, (Yes, Laxus and Jellal are good cooks. Lucy did just choke!) everyone sat around the fire, chatting. This was Lucy's first night after whole year where she had been in the celestial plane. Sighing, she decided it was probably time to head to bed.
Rising, she went towards her sleeping bag, smiling as she heard the boys wishing her a good night's sleep. Yelling over her shoulder, she thanked each of them for helping her and wished them a good night also.
Then she entered her tent which was small, but not too small. Changing quickly into some warmer clothes, she sat on her inflatable mattress and thought about everything that had happened in that one day she had been back. Already, she had three new, close friends and had started her training.
Hearing the boys outside begin to pack up and head to their own sleeping quarters, she drifted off to sleep, exhausted by the days happenings.